


Something Better

by ellembee



Category: Hunger Games Series - All Media Types, Hunger Games Trilogy - Suzanne Collins, The Hunger Games (Movies)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Christmas, F/M, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-23
Updated: 2020-12-23
Packaged: 2021-03-11 01:14:43
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,044
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28256763
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ellembee/pseuds/ellembee
Summary: Prompt: Modern AU katniss + prim having a lil sisterly bonding dayPrim hasn’t seen her sister in a year and a half. She hopes this Christmas, they can finally grow closer. (The Everdeen sisters with a dash of Everlark.)
Relationships: Katniss Everdeen & Primrose Everdeen, Katniss Everdeen/Peeta Mellark
Comments: 4
Kudos: 42
Collections: The Hunger Games 2020 Season of Hope Holiday Gift Exchange





	Something Better

**Author's Note:**

  * For [vampphobic](https://archiveofourown.org/users/vampphobic/gifts).



> This was written for The Hunger Games 2020 Season of Hope Holiday Gift Exchange for vampphobic. I hope you enjoy it, vampphobic! I'm sorry this has a little more angst than you probably wanted, and I couldn't help adding in a little Everlark. Happy holidays!

Prim hadn’t seen her older sister in a year and a half. Katniss’s last visit to her hometown of Panem had been for Prim’s high school graduation. She had driven up the same day as the ceremony with the intention of leaving the next morning. She posed for pictures, gifted Prim with flowers and a card full of money, and attended a celebratory dinner with their mother. When Mrs. Everdeen had found out that Katniss had rented a hotel room rather than spend the night in her childhood home, she had been furious. The next morning, Katniss had texted a goodbye to her sister rather than risk running into their mother.

During their time apart, they had sent texts. On rare occasions, they video chatted. But their conversations were always brief, touching upon easy, unimportant things: Prim’s class schedule, Katniss’s job as a vet tech, Peeta’s newest dessert for the bakery.

Now they were face to face, and somehow, neither had much to say.

Prim looked down at her hands. They had already ordered their lunch, the menus whisked away by the waitress, and now there was no safe place to look. Staring at Katniss felt awkward with neither one of them speaking. She resisted the urge to pull out her phone.

“Are you--” Katniss began.

“I think--” Prim said at the same time.

They both stopped and smiled. Prim’s cheeks flushed. Why was this so hard? She wished Peeta was there to keep the conversation going. He was so friendly and open. He knew what questions to ask, what anecdotes to share. He was a good distraction from the fact that Prim and Katniss had nothing in common. They never had.

“Go ahead,” Katniss prompted.

“Right. Sorry.” Prim tucked a lock of hair behind her ear. “I think we should go ice skating next.”

“You hate ice skating.”

“I don’t _hate_ it,” Prim corrected. “I’m just not great at it.” The last time Prim had worn ice skates, she had been ten and a guest at a friend's birthday party. She had spent the majority of the afternoon hanging onto the wall, inching her way around the rink. 

“Are you sure?” Katniss asked.

“When was the last time you went?”

Katniss shrugged. “I don’t know. It’s been years. Maybe high school?”

Katniss had to be referring to that same birthday party. Every kid in attendance required an adult chaperone, so Katniss had stayed. Their mom had been working, and at sixteen, the other parents deemed Katniss adult enough. In fact, while the rest of the moms spent the party drinking hot chocolate on benches, Katniss had flown across the rink, keeping an eye on Prim’s friends. Katniss had even performed a few tricks at the birthday girl’s request.

That afternoon had been cold and miserable. Not only had Prim fallen several times, but she had seethed with jealousy at Katniss’s talent. It wasn’t fair. Their father had taught Katniss how to skate. He took her all the time, especially after Prim was born, so she wouldn’t feel neglected with a new baby in the house. He had called it their special thing. He had died before he could develop a special hobby with Prim.

“All the more reason to go today,” Prim said.

“I guess.”

“Besides, I figured we could get our nails done after.”

Katniss scrunched up her nose. “Manicures?”

“Come on,” Prim said. “I’m overdue.” She held up her hands to show off her chipped nail polish.

“Okay. If that’s what you want.”

A moment later, the waitress arrived with their lunches: a Greek salad for Prim and a turkey burger for Katniss. Prim breathed a sigh of relief. Now there was an excuse to keep quiet. They wouldn’t have to force any more words. For now at least.

She had been so optimistic about this trip. When Peeta had called and invited her for Christmas as a surprise for Katniss, she had been excited. She had even made a list of all the things she and Katniss could do together. They were overdue for some sisterly bonding.

But all today had done so far was remind Prim how much they had drifted apart.

*

Ice skating had been a terrible idea. Of course, Prim hadn’t realized it until she took her first step on the ice and promptly grabbed the wall to keep from falling over.

Katniss glided out beside her.

“You don’t have to stay with me,” Prim said. “I know you can actually move with these death blades attached to your feet.”

Katniss laughed, and warmth filled Prim’s chest. “Yeah, but we’re spending the day together, right? Can’t do that on the other side of the rink.”

Katniss held out her hand, and Prim took it, while her other hand followed the wall. They were silent again, although it was much more bearable when they didn’t have to meet each other’s eyes.

“How’s your boyfriend?” Katniss suddenly asked.

“Boyfriend?”

“Yeah, um, Thom was his name. I think.”

Prim frowned, wondering where Katniss had gotten the idea that she had a boyfriend. Three months ago, she had gone on a date with a guy from her English class named Thom. They had gotten dinner in the cafe together, and then gone to a party in his friend’s dorm room. The date had been fun, and they had kissed, but when Thom asked if they could hang out again, Prim had declined. She wasn’t sure why.

“We only went out once,” Prim said.

“Really?” Katniss’s forehead wrinkled. “I could have sworn…”

Prim remembered telling Katniss about the date on one of their rare video chats. Silence had stretched between them after Katniss finished an anecdote about a chihuahua that had nearly taken a finger off at work. Prim had been desperate to reciprocate with a story, any story, and then she remembered Thom. She must have made it seem like a bigger deal than it was. 

“No,” Prim said. “No boyfriend.”

“I remember you talking about how much fun that date was. You didn’t want to see him again?”

“No. No spark, I guess.” But that wasn’t true, was it? She didn’t want to analyze the issue further, so she quickly asked, “How’s Peeta?”

Katniss’s face lit up. The change was astounding, like clouds parting to reveal the sun. If Katniss had ever smiled like that growing up, Prim didn’t remember it. “He’s good,” she said simply. “Really good.”

“And the bakery?”

“It’s doing really well. Peeta’s been so busy these past couple of months for the holidays. I think that’s probably why--” She stopped.

“Why what?”

“I think that’s why he invited you. To keep me company.”

It was true that Peeta had invited Prim, and it had been a surprise for Katniss, but he also had insisted that Katniss missed her sister, that she had dropped hints about spending the holidays together. But maybe…maybe that last part wasn’t true.

“I thought you wanted me to come,” Prim said. 

“I didn’t know you were coming. You were a surprise.”

“I know, but…”

Another sentence trailed off into nothing. What was wrong with them? Why did their words start and stop, sputter into nothing? Their conversations were planes destined to never leave the ground. Sometimes their relationship felt the same way.

“Do you want me here?” Prim finally asked.

Katniss stopped so suddenly that Prim lost her balance and hit the ice.

“I’m sorry!” Katniss pulled her sister back into a standing position. Tears stung Prim’s eyes.

“Are you okay?” Katniss asked.

Prim nodded, but Katniss was unconvinced. “Let’s go. It’s getting too cold anyway.”

*

They were halfway to the nail salon when Prim asked, “What do you think my special thing with dad would have been?”

“What do you mean?”

“Well, you two had ice skating.”

“Yeah.” Katniss smiled wistfully. “In the summer, we went fishing.”

“You did? I don’t remember that.”

“You were too little,” Katniss said.

Of course. Prim had been six when their father died, Katniss twelve. She had few memories of their father, and they had faded with age. There were pictures, but the more she looked at them, the more she confused them with the memories she had. How much did she truly remember, and how much were products of fantasy after spending one too many afternoons gazing at photo albums?

“Okay, so ice skating and fishing.” And probably countless other things Prim didn’t remember. “What do you think we would have done?”

“The two of you played dolls a lot.”

“We did?”

“Yeah. You were really into it. You made up these elaborate stories about princesses and knights, and Dad played whatever part you wanted him to.”

“Even the princess?”

“You were always the princess,” Katniss said, pulling into the parking lot of the nail salon. “But sometimes he was a peasant girl or a lady-in-waiting. He could make his voice go really high.”

Prim closed her eyes as the car came to a stop. She tried to conjure up the image of her father sitting cross-legged on the ground of her room, walking a doll toward her.

“Sounds fun,” Prim said.

“Yeah. It was.”

*

Katniss selected a pale pink for her nails while Prim opted for red and green. It was only two days until Christmas after all.

They sat side by side as the nail technicians got to work. 

“I want you here,” Katniss blurted out. “I don’t know why I didn’t say that sooner. I guess I was surprised you asked.”

“Oh. Okay.” For some reason, Prim didn’t feel reassured. “Thanks.”

“Um, yeah. No problem.”

*

Once upon a time, Prim’s family had been happy and whole, but she didn’t remember that. Not much, at least. She only remembered the after. Getting off the bus one day to find Katniss crying. It was the only time Prim had seen her sister cry. A few days later, at the funeral, Katniss would maintain her composure as their mother fell apart.

It’d be years before Mrs. Everdeen put herself back together.

Their father died in a workplace accident due to company negligence. The construction site and the Everdeen family settled out of court for a nice lump sum. Combined with his life insurance, there had been enough money to cover the mortgage, utilities, and food even as their mother took a temporary leave of absence from the hospital. One that began paid, and then wasn’t paid, and then wasn’t temporary at all. 

Money wasn’t the issue as long as they were careful about their spending. It was the everything else. It was making dinner and doing the laundry and figuring out how to pay the bills when their dazed mother couldn’t remember usernames or passwords. It was making lunch and getting Prim dressed for school. It was keeping the house clean and the lawn mowed and the neighbors unconcerned about what was going on at home.

It all fell on Katniss’s twelve-year-old shoulders. Katniss and Prim had never been close thanks to their six year age difference, but Katniss had never been mean. If Prim wanted to hang out in Katniss’s room, Katniss allowed it. Sometimes they watched movies together, or worked on an art project. Prim told Katniss about school and her crush on Rory, a boy in her kindergarten class.

After their father died though, Katniss couldn’t be her sister anymore. A much more important role had opened up after their mother went to bed and decided she wasn’t going to get up for a good, long while. So Katniss looked out for Prim. Made sure she ate, and did her homework, and went on playdates with friends.

When Katniss turned fifteen, she got a part-time job at the local grocery store. There wasn’t time for anything else after that. School, then work, then home, and all the duties that came with it. 

Prim knew how much Katniss had sacrificed: friends, boyfriends, school dances. And finally, when high school graduation came around, and Prim was in junior high, Katniss found a job as a receptionist at a vet’s office. Eventually, she became a veterinary technician, but that’s where her path ended. There would be no college for her. No opportunity to try something else or be someone else. 

Once their mother started therapy and taking medication, she returned to work, but it was all she had the energy for. She made sure there was money in the bank, but that was where her responsibility ended. At first, Katniss and their mother had small disagreements. Eventually those disagreements turned into full-blown arguments. In December of Prim’s junior year of high school, Katniss decided she had had enough and moved. She picked a state, seemingly at random, that was five hours away.

Prim knew how much Katniss resented their mother. She worried Katniss resented her too. After all, she was the reason Katniss had given up so much.

*

Prim tapped her freshly painted nails on her knee as she eyed the clock on the car dashboard. She had thought they would ice skate longer than they did. “Do you want to stop for ice cream?”

“It’s like twenty degrees out,” Katniss said.

“We can get hot fudge on it.”

Katniss rolled her eyes, but there was only amusement in her voice. “Sure. There’s a Cold Stone a few streets over.”

“Then we’ll go back to your house.”

“Sounds like a plan.” 

Despite the weather, Cold Stone was packed, so they took their ice cream to go and ate it inside the car.

Prim swallowed a bite and stuck the spoon inside her ice cream. “I did like Thom,” she said.

“The guy you went on one date with?”

“Yeah. I liked him.”

“Then why didn’t you see him again?”

“I didn’t want to get distracted.” Prim swirled the ice cream in her cup, turning it soupy beneath the hot fudge.

“From what? School?”

“Yeah. I guess.”

“I know you want to be a doctor,” Katniss said. “But I don’t think you have to worry about that kind of stuff now. You’re only a sophomore. You’re supposed to have fun.”

“You didn’t date in high school.”

“That’s different.”

“How so?” Prim asked.

“I was busy. There just...wasn’t time for guys.”

“I’m busy too. You think college isn’t hard?”

“I didn’t say that!” Katniss scowled, although she directed it at the windshield instead of her sister. “I just meant that I had more going on than just school. I had a job too.”

Prim heard the implication. Katniss had a job back then, but Prim had never worked. She had a work-study job now, but it was twelve hours a week, and she mostly just answered phones and made copies. When nothing needed to be done, she did her homework.

“I could have worked in high school. You told me not to,” Prim said.

“Yeah, I wanted you to focus on school.”

“Well then, which is it? Should I focus on school or have fun?”

“Why are you being difficult?” Katniss snapped. “You know what I mean.”

“I don’t.”

“I want you to do well in school, but I also want you to have fun. I want you to have the time and energy to do both.”

“You couldn’t make time?” Prim didn’t know why she asked. She knew how much Katniss had had on her plate. She _was_ being difficult.

“I was a little busy raising you.” There was venom in Katniss’s voice now. Exasperation too. She sighed and grabbed Prim’s mostly empty cup.

“Hey!” Prim said.

“I’m throwing these out, and then we’re going home.”

Prim watched through the windshield as her sister entered Coldstone and emerged a moment later. Her hands were fists at her side. Prim rubbed her forehead and took a deep breath. This was supposed to be a good day. A sisterly bonding day. Instead, she was forcing them further apart, and she didn’t know why.

Katniss slammed the door a little harder than necessary. The car was already on, heat blasting, but when she grabbed the stick to shift into reverse, Prim placed her hand on top of her sister’s.

“College _is_ fun,” Prim said.

“Good. Can we go home now?”

“Wait. College is fun, and I want to go on dates, but it makes me feel guilty.”

“I don’t understand,” Katniss said, settling back into her seat. She twisted sideways so she could see Prim.

“I know what you gave up,” Prim said. “I remember you going to school, then coming home and making dinner, and then going to work, and then staying up half the night doing your homework.”

“That has nothing to do with--”

“It has everything to do with it!” Prim said. “Why should I risk my GPA by partying and getting a boyfriend? That would be such a slap in the face to you.”

“I…” Katniss shook her head. “I’m not saying you should get drunk every night and fail out of school. But you should enjoy yourself.”

“Why should I get to have fun and make friends and go on dates when you couldn’t do any of that?”

Katniss turned the car off, and the world went quiet. She was silent for a long moment. Prim could tell she was trying to find the right words.

“I worked hard so you could have the things I didn’t,” Katniss finally said. “That was the point.”

“That’s not fair.” Prim’s throat burned as her eyes filled with tears.

Katniss shrugged. “Life’s not fair.”

“I miss you. I miss my sister.”

“Prim…”

“But you haven’t been my sister in a really long time.”

“I’m sorry,” Katniss said softly.

Prim wiped her cheeks. “It’s not your fault.”

“It’s not yours either. Is this why you don’t tell me about school? You feel bad?”

“I guess.”

Katniss touched Prim’s shoulder. “I want you to tell me about school. And boys and parties. I want to hear everything.”

“Don’t you ever regret it though?” Prim asked. “All those missed opportunities?”

“I regret some things, yeah. It’s hard to get through life without regrets. But Prim...I never once blamed you for it. Not for any of it.”

More tears slipped down Prim’s face. “I wish I had gotten to know Dad better.”

“I wish that too.”

“I wish things had been different.”

“I don’t.”

Prim looked over at her sister. “You don’t?”

Katniss pulled tissues out of the glove compartment and handed them to Prim. “Of course I wish Dad was still with us. And growing up the way we did was hard. But I’m happy with my life now. I have a good job with co-workers that I don’t completely hate. I live in a beautiful house with the most amazing boyfriend. All those missed opportunities led me here.”

“To Peeta?”

Katniss smiled. “Yeah. It led me home.”

“We should go home now then.”

“You sure?”

Prim blew her nose and nodded. “Yeah. It’s time.”

*

Katniss frowned up at her house as she pulled into the driveway. The porch light had clicked on thanks to the motion sensor, but the rest of the house was dark.

“It’s only six,” Katniss said. “And his car is here.”

They walked up to the front, but the door was locked.

“That’s weird.” She took a few steps back to look up at the dark house as if expecting a light to click on at any second.

“Should we try the backyard?” Prim suggested.

“It’s twenty degrees.”

“Do you have a better idea?”

Katniss sighed. “I guess not.”

Prim fell a few steps behind as her sister opened the gate and walked down the path leading to the patio in the back. With a gasp, Katniss stopped. Prim moved closer, but only a little. She wanted to see what Peeta had set up, but she didn’t want to interfere.

Fairy lights lined the edge of the overhang and wrapped around its support beams. A fire danced in the fire pit, tall and crackling. Mugs of what Prim assumed were hot chocolate sat on the table in front of the sofa. Prim had done her best to time this right. She hoped the drinks were still warm.

Even if they weren’t, she knew there was a hot meal waiting for Katniss inside. Her favorite dinner (lamb stew) and dessert (chocolate cake with raspberry filling) had been carefully prepared by Peeta.

“What is this?” Katniss asked. She had frozen several feet away from her boyfriend as if afraid to get any closer.

Peeta held out a bouquet of dandelions. Katniss had once told Prim about her second date with Peeta, a hike at a nearby state park. After two hours under the sun, they had sat down in the shade, and Katniss had made a chain of dandelions. When she finished, she had crowned Peeta, and he had kissed her for the very first time.

Carefully, as if afraid a sudden movement would send him running, Katniss walked closer. She accepted the bouquet and held it to her chest.

“I don’t understand.”

“I want to marry you, Katniss Everdeen.” He bent down on one knee and produced a small velvet box from his coat pocket. 

“Why?”

Peeta blinked, his usually unflappable exterior faltering. “What do you mean?”

“Why do you want to marry me?” Katniss asked.

“Because you’re amazing,” Prim blurted out. Crap. She hadn’t meant to speak. She had wanted to fade into the background and let this scene unfold as Peeta had pictured and Katniss deserved.

Katniss looked over her shoulder.

“You’re amazing, Katniss. You’re smart and kind and good. How could you not know that?” Prim asked.

Katniss covered her face with her free hand, and Prim rushed forward. She had ruined it. Oh no, she had ruined everything. Even Peeta looked concerned as he stood.

“Are you okay?” Peeta grasped her upper arms. 

Prim was beginning to think Peeta had never seen Katniss cry before, although it wasn’t like she had much more experience.

“Prim’s right,” Peeta said softly. “You’re smart and funny and beautiful. You’re my favorite person.”

Katniss dropped her hand, and sure enough, she was crying. Prim may not have known her sister as well as she would have liked, but she could tell that these were happy tears.

“I love you,” Peeta said. “I can’t imagine my life without you. How could it be anyone but you?”

Katniss let herself be enveloped by his arms. He held her close, and she whispered something into his ear, something Prim couldn’t hear.

When Katniss pulled away, Peeta slipped the ring onto her finger, and there was that smile again on Katniss’s face. She was so happy, so beautiful. She was incandescent.

“Congratulations,” Prim said “’ll see you tomorrow for Christmas Eve.”

“Tomorrow? Where are you going?” Katniss asked.

“A hotel. I think you and Peeta need the house to yourselves tonight.”

“But--”

“No,” Prim said. “You deserve this. Every piece of it. Tomorrow, you can tell me all about it.”

“Thank you,” she said, pulling Prim into a tight hug..

Thank you, Peeta mouthed over his fiancee’s head. 

Katniss’s musical laughter followed Prim back up the path to the driveway. Peeta had told Prim his plan when he first called her and invited her for Christmas. It wasn’t just that he needed someone to distract Katniss for the afternoon. She had a couple of really good friends he could have used for that. But Peeta had wanted her there for the proposal, and clearly, he thought Katniss would want her there too.

Today might not have gone exactly the way Prim had wanted, but it was hard not to feel hopeful. She and Katniss were older now, both with lives of their own. They had finally touched upon the issues that kept them apart. There would be more talking, more tears, and probably an argument or two.

But they could do this. They could become the close sisters Prim dreamed of, swapping secrets over video chats, texting each other just to say hello. Prim could help her plan the wedding of her dreams and stand up beside her as she said her vows. 

They wouldn’t just go back to the sisters they once were. They’d be closer, happier, and something even better. They’d be friends too.


End file.
